Journey Back to Ithaca
by sassgoddess
Summary: Sequel to Ogygia. Natsume couldn't stop thinking about Mikan Sakura. When he found out that his best friend Ruka Nogi had some distant connection with her, he grabbed on to that thin ray of hope to find her again, no matter what he had to face along the way.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.**

 **Hi all! Due to high demands (not really high but oh well) I wrote a sequel to** ** _Ogygia_** **! Yeayyy! But because of this I have to sacrifice two hours of studying so please comment guys to make it worthwhile (LOL). Well, please read and enjoy :)**

* * *

 _Knock. Knock_.

No reply.

Ruka decided to just let himself in, as usual. "Natsume?"

Natsume was sitting facing his laptop, his face serious, but empty. Ruka sighed and walked inside. "Natsume," he called again, louder this time.

And this time, Natsume looked up. "Oh, Ruka. Why did you suddenly appear? You scared me." He leaned back on his chair.

"I've been knocking on that door for five minutes, and I even called you when I came in." Ruka sighed. "Natsume, you're exhausted. You should go home and rest."

"No, I'm okay," Natsume insisted. He looked at his laptop again. "You should go home, Ruka. Your girlfriend is waiting, right?"

"Hotaru went to a friend's birthday celebration today. She won't be around." Ruka took a seat in front of Natsume's desk. "I'm not going unless you're going."

Natsume lifted his head, slightly annoyed. "I still have work, Ruka. I'm not leaving." _And working keeps my mind from thinking about that girl._

"Goddammit, Natsume. We've been having this kind of conversation for two weeks. _Two weeks_. It's been two weeks since you last went home, right? I heard from your secretary, you were always here when she arrived in the office. She came here at fucking five A.M. in the morning, and I always left at midnight. And you've been wearing that shirt for quite a while now…" Ruka eyed Natsume's shirt suspiciously. "Natsume, I know it's hard, breaking up with Luna and stuff. But you'll have to move on…"

 _Luna?_ Natsume blinked. Then he smiled bitterly. _I guess Luna was right… I've never loved her. I'm sorry, Luna._ His smiled turned to a low chuckle.

"Why the fuck are you laughing? Have you gone crazy?"

Natsume laughed louder. "No, I just realized Luna was right. I've never loved her."

Ruka totally didn't expect that response. He stood up. "W—What?"

"I met someone else."

Ruka's surprise turned into anger. "What the fuck, Natsume?! You just broke up with Luna and you're already messing around with someone else?! That fast?! Fuck you, man. I thought you're better than that." He turned around, ready to leave.

"No, Ruka, listen. It's different than what you think."

"Oh? You're sure it's different? Because what I can catch is Natsume Hyuuga, toying around with some innocent girl's heart, just to mess around with someone else as soon as she dumped him."

"Yeah, this story is different. This is the story of how I got my karma." Natsume laughed. "So, do you want to listen, or not?"

Ruka hesitated. One side of him said he should leave that jerk alone, but another side insisted that Natsume wouldn't have done such a terrible thing. And so, Ruka sat back down.

Natsume smiled at him gratefully. Ruka had always been a nice person, and sometimes he felt like he had been taking that for granted. _Maybe one day I'll receive my karma too for that_ , he thought.

"Okay. So, remembered when I disappeared after the break-up?"

"You drove everyone in the office crazy."

"Yeah, I went to a bar, and ordered some drinks. Then a girl came and sat next to me. She, too, just suffered from being dumped. So we introduced each other and talked a bit before we decided to have a one-night stand to forget our ex-partners for a while."

Ruka raised an eyebrow. "Interesting way to go through a break-up."

"Normal, you mean. So we went to her apartment and… it felt different. _Us_ , I mean, not the sex. Okay, that one is different too, because y'know, Luna didn't like it when I do it from behind and…"

"OKAY, I don't want to know that."

"Sorry, too caught up in the flow. Anyway, yeah, I feel a connection between us. Like, we just _clicked_. It's as if I found the piece of puzzle that finally matched with mine. So after we had sex, I asked her to be my friend. _Only friends_." Natsume emphasized. "And she cried."

"What?! Why?" Ruka sat upright.

"That's what I don't understand. It's not about the sex, of course—and she forced me to drink a sleeping pill. I fell asleep, and when I woke up, she was gone. She had gone to Russia for her job." Natsume sighed. "And I felt like I had wasted my chance to love again."

Ruka stared at his best friend for fifteen years. He had never seen Natsume like that before, not even with Luna. He was very dedicated to his job and rarely got carried away with his emotions. But today he had seen Natsume's hidden side.

"So, what do you want to do now? You wanna go to Russia and find her?"

"I want to, but I don't know how. Russia is not near, Ruka, and if I were to go there, I have to make it worthwhile. I _must_ find her. But it's hard when I know nothing of her job or even her destination. The only thing I know is her old apartment and her name." Natsume ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Goddammit, I should've asked her more about her job."

"What's her name?"

"Mikan Sakura."

Ruka blinked. He took out his smartphone, scrolled a bit, and gave his phone to Natsume.

Natsume knitted his eyebrows but took it.

And Ruka's phone showed a picture of a bunch of girls… and Mikan was there.

Natsume jolted upright. "WHAT THE FUCK?! Ruka, you know her?!"

"She's Hotaru's best friend. I met her once."

Natsume stared at Ruka's smartphone screen in disbelief. It was _really_ Mikan Sakura, the beautiful brunette, his Calypso. She was smiling brightly at the camera, her hands hugging her friends' waists, her hazel eyes reflecting excitement.

"Where's your girlfriend now?" Natsume demanded. He quickly closed his laptop and packed his things.

"Like I said, celebrating someone's birthday. I think she went to their favorite bar…"

"Bring me there." Natsume grabbed his suitcase.

"Wait, Natsume—"

Natsume threw Ruka's phone to him. Ruka caught it in surprise, almost missing it.

"I'll wait in front of your car. Turn off the lights and lock the doors."

Natsume marched out, leaving the dumbfounded Ruka. _At least Natsume finally stopped working_ , he thought. Sighing, he walked out of the office.

* * *

 **So, how was it? Thanks for reading by the way! I know it's rather short, but I have plans so just bear with me. Reviews are much appreciated :)**

 **Quick poll: still thinking whether I should add lemon inside, should I? Maybe I'll just go with the flow but do give me your opinion. Oh, and happy ending/sad ending, I'm still in dilemma...**

 **~sassgoddess**


	2. Odysseus

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.**

 **Hi everyone! I'm glad you guys like the prologue, and I feel like you're expecting so much from me that it made me a bit nervous / so here's now another chapter. It's still a long way before Natsume can meet Mikan so please support him HAHAHAHA!**

 **Special credits to Anilissa, who actually made me more confident in my decision to make a sequel! Thanks so much~! :)**

* * *

 _ **Odysseus**_ _(/_ _oʊˈdɪsiəs_ _,_ _oʊˈdɪsjuːs_ _/_ _; Greek:_ _Ὀδυσσεύς_ _[odysˈsews]), also known by the Latin name_ _ **Ulysses**_ _(_ _US_ _/_ _juːˈlɪsiːz_ _/_ _,_ _UK_ _/_ _ˈjuːlɪsiːz_ _/_ _; Latin:_ _Ulyssēs, Ulixēs_ _), was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. He is most famous for the ten eventful years he took to return home after the decade-long Trojan War._

 _(Source: Wikipedia)_

* * *

Hotaru was chatting with her friends—Nonoko, Anna, and Sumire—when she heard her phone ring. Her boyfriend's name was shown on the blinking screen. She picked it up.

"Hi, Ruka."

"Hotaru?" Ruka sounded a bit panicky, but Hotaru didn't catch it, because her surroundings were too loud. "Can you hear me?"

"Speak louder!" Hotaru shouted over the crowd. "It's fucking loud here."

"Are you at the usual bar?!" Ruka shouted back.

"Yeah! I told you—"

"Great! Bye!"

Ruka hung up on her. She stared at her phone, confused.

"What happened?" Nonoko, who was sitting next to her, asked. "It was Ruka, right?"

"Yeah. I don't know. He just asked if I'm at the usual bar, then he hung up. Strange." Hotaru shrugged and put her phone away. "Never mind that."

"Okay then, now is the time for the special gift!" Nonoko clasped her hand together. "Hotaru, bring it out!"

"Special gift?" Sumire, the birthday girl, raised an eyebrow expectantly.

Hotaru took out her laptop.

"It's not the laptop, by the way," Anna nudged Sumire.

"I'm not that dumb, of course I know that," Sumire snorted.

"Wait for a moment," Hotaru said as she played with her laptop. "In the meantime, you guys can order more drinks. I'm thirsty here."

"Koko!" Sumire called out. "More drinks here!"

Koko came over and poured them more drinks. "Sumire, don't get drunk _again_. You're… _wild_ when you're drunk."

Anna and Nonoko giggled when Sumire blushed madly. "K—Koko! Shut up!"

Koko laughed it off. "Just kidding. Drink as much as you want, it's your birthday anyway." He leaned over and whispered to Sumire. "And be prepared for your gift later, sweetie."

Sumire blushed again. "GO AWAY!" She shouted as she pushed her boyfriend away. Again, Koko just laughed it off.

"Guys, it's connected," Hotaru called out.

Nonoko and Anna turned eagerly to the laptop. Sumire, still puzzled, followed suit… to find Mikan waving at her from the laptop screen.

"Happy birthday, Permy!" She waved her hand excitedly.

"MIKAN!" Sumire shouted in happiness. At first she was really disappointed that one of her best friends left in the morning of her birthday, but now, looking at her again, the only thing she felt was that she missed her so much. She didn't even mind Mikan calling her Permy.

"Hi, Mikan! How's Russia?"

"Kind of cold, or maybe it's just because my friends are not here," she pouted. "I missed you guys so much already."

"Is that your new apartment?"

Mikan glanced at the surroundings. "Yep! I'm living together with someone. She's a foreigner too, but she's been staying here for almost two years now. So she could help me. She's nice and friendly, I'm sure you guys would love to befriend her." Mikan smiled. "So, Permy, I hope you like your gift! And happy birthday! Sorry I can't be _physically_ there, but hey, don't forget that Skype exists." She laughed.

"Yeah, thanks for your gift. I'm wearing it now," Sumire lifted her hand, showing a sparkling bracelet encircling her wrist. The jade color matched her hair perfectly. "I love it. Thanks, Mikan."

"You're most welcome!" Mikan smiled brightly. But her smile slowly saddened. "I really miss you guys a lot, goddammit."

"Hey, hey, why are you sad? This isn't like you," Sumire said.

"Yeah, Mikan, we know you can do it. Fighting!" Anna added.

"We still can text each other all the time," Nonoko chimed in.

Mikan glanced at each and every one of them. All of them were looking at her with warm eyes.

"Moreover," Mikan heard a cool voice— _Hotaru?_ "we're still friends, stupid. We'll always be here for you." Mikan glanced to the side and found Hotaru _actually smiling_ at her.

"What the fuck! Hotaru, you just smiled."

"Did not." Hotaru plastered her default face.

"Do it again! I wanna take picture."

"Hell fucking no."

Laughter echoed, and Mikan suddenly felt that her new room had warmed.

"Oh. I gotta go now to buy some stuff. It's still like, 4.30 in the afternoon here, y'know. I'm 7 hours earlier than you guys." Mikan rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I'll drop a text when I'm free. Say hello to everyone for me," Mikan added. "Bye!"

"Bye, Mikan!"

With that, Mikan hung up. Hotaru closed the laptop, and they all continued talking about how they missed Mikan.

At that time, Hotaru's phone rang again. It was Ruka. _Again._ Hotaru picked it up.

"What?" She said, slightly irritated.

"Where are you sitting?"

Hotaru frowned. "Near the bar, but—"

Ruka hung up on her. _Again_.

"I swear I'm gonna fucking kill him later," Hotaru hissed as she put her phone down.

"Kill who?"

Hotaru didn't even bother to roll her eyes. "Of course, him—"

"Hotaru?"

Hotaru turned to find Ruka behind her, slightly sweating. "Ruka? What the fuck are you doing—"

"Hotaru Imai?" The guy next to Ruka cut her off. Hotaru turned to him in irritation. "What?"

The guy straightened himself. A sweat was rolling down his forehead. "My name is Natsume Hyuuga," he said, "and I would like to ask a few things regarding Mikan Sakura."

" _Natsume Hyuuga_?" Hotaru eyed him suspiciously. "Oh, so it's you." Hotaru leaned back on her seat, turning completely ignorant. "I've been expecting you, Odysseus."

Natsume frowned. "Odysseus?"

* * *

 **So yeah, that's it for this chapter! I'm trying so hard to link this whole story to Odysseus' journey, so if you want a bit of heads-up of what's going to happen, you can see how Odysseus' journey went! (Not exactly a pleasant journey, I'm afraid.)**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading! Reviews are welcomed :)**

 **~sassgoddess**


	3. Troy and the Trojan Horse

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.**

 **Hello there! My exam's tomorrow, but the internet connection is in my favor so I decided to just, like, fuck my exams and upload another chapter, yayyy! This chapter's not very eventful though in my opinion, but it is necessary for the next chapter to happen. It's the beginning of everything, so as to say. Anyway, please enjoy, because I abandon my Economics paper for this TT_TT**

* * *

 **Troy** (Ancient Greek: Ἴλιον, _Ilion_ , or Ἴλιος, _Ilios_ ; and Τροία, _Troia_ ; Latin: _Trōia_ and _Īlium_ ; Hittite: _Wilusa_ or _Truwisa_ ; Turkish: _Truva_ ) was a city situated in what is known from Classical sources as Asia Minor, now northwest Anatolia in modern Turkey, located south of the southwest end of the Dardanelles/Hellespont and northwest of Mount Ida at Hisarlık. It is the setting of the **Trojan War** described in the Greek Epic Cycle.

The **Trojan Horse** is a tale from the Trojan War about the subterfuge that the Greeks used to enter the city of Troy and win the war. In the canonical version, after a fruitless 10-year siege, the Greeks constructed a huge wooden horse, and hid a select force of men inside. The Greeks pretended to sail away, and the Trojans pulled the horse into their city as a victory trophy. That night the Greek force crept out of the horse and opened the gates for the rest of the Greek army, which had sailed back under cover of night. The Greeks entered and destroyed the city of Troy, decisively ending the war.

(Taken from Wikipedia)

* * *

Hotaru refused to speak to Natsume about Mikan, and that put Natsume beyond frustration. He had been desperately trying to dig something out from Hotaru, but she stubbornly kept her ground.

Ruka had suggested for him to approach Mikan's other friends. He even sneaked their contacts and addresses secretly from Hotaru's contact list. Natsume had them now in his phone, but they had been avoiding his calls and ignoring his texts as well.

"Fuck," Natsume threw his phone on his table in irritation. "None of them is picking up my calls."

"Maybe you should try a different approach, Natsume," Ruka suggested.

"Like what, go to their house and hide there and listen to what they may say about her?"

Ruka paused for a while. "Actually I was about to suggest you befriend them," he said, "but your words just gave me another idea. Let's use the Trojan Horse tactic."

"The what?"

"Gosh, Natsume, you really have to read your Greek mythologies. Has anyone ever told you that?" Ruka approached his table in big steps.

 _One person,_ Natsume thought glumly, but said nothing. "So what's that?"

"You see, Odysseus and his men sneaked inside this huge-ass wooden horse disguised as a gift to the Trojans. Then after they infiltrated, _boom_ , they just came out from the wooden horse, ready to attack. _Bam_. Instant victory." Ruka explained it briefly.

"And how does it apply to my situation?" Natsume rubbed his temple.

"Use your brain, duh. Pretend to be nice. Okay, this is illegal and Hotaru will kill me if she found out, but I've been your friend longer than I've been in a relationship with her, so I guess that justifies it." Ruka shrugged. "Anyway, my plan is this: give one of her friends a gift, and insert a listening device inside. I know they will all meet at this girl's—Anna's—house this weekend, so there's a really high chance they will discuss about Mikan." Ruka glanced at Natsume. "What do you think?"

"Man, you're awesome," Natsume shook her head in awe. "Ruka, can you go and buy a small listening device? I'll go and buy a gift. We'll go to this girl's house as soon as those are ready—"

Ruka smiled as he put down his smartphone. "A doll with a listening device inside has been ordered. It will be delivered tomorrow. And Anna Umenomiya runs a bakery, which is also a café—she will be there for sure during weekdays. We can drop by anytime to have a friendly chat with her while grabbing some lunch."

"Wow, Ruka, you're more enthusiastic about this than I am."

Ruka pat Natsume's shoulder, still smiling. "Of course—I finally can see my friend happy, so why shouldn't I enthuse about it?"

* * *

Anna was standing behind the counter when she saw two familiar-looking men entered her café-slash-bakery. She squinted as she put her pink hair behind her ears, trying to get a better look of those two gentlemen. _Who are they?_

As they approached the counter, Anna's eyes widened. She knew who they were. She knew who they were _very well_ , and she knew that she _had to_ avoid them at all costs.

Unfortunately she realized it too late—they had already stopped in front of the counter, smiling at her angelically.

Anna forced a professional smile. "Ruka, fancy seeing you here! And your friend as well," she glanced at Natsume. "Are you guys here for lunch?"

"That, and a few minutes of friendly chat—if you don't mind," Ruka gave her an extremely sweet smile.

How could she refuse that smile? She had been friends with Ruka for quite a long time, and Ruka had been kind of a big brother figure to the group of girls (Anna, Nonoko, Sumire, and Mikan). Ruka had helped her a lot of times, so refusing would only make Anna feel bad about herself.

Sighing, Anna turned and called her employee. "Man the counter after this," she said. "I'll be back in a while." She turned back to the two guys, sighing again. "So, what do you guys want to order?"

* * *

So, there they were, sitting around a square wooden table. Their orders hadn't been delivered yet, so they just sat in awkward silence.

"So," Anna sighed, "what do you guys want from me?"

She sounded defeated. Ruka and Natsume couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" Anna furrowed her eyebrows, puzzled.

"We're not here to oppress you, I promise," Ruka suppressed his laugh.

"Rather, I'm here to apologize."

Natsume's words made Anna turned her head quickly to him. She eyed him suspiciously. "What? Apologize?" Anna gave Natsume a look that was almost disgusted, but instead of making her look angry, the scene looked quite comedic. Ruka tried his best not to laugh as Natsume cleared his throat.

"I know I've been rude, nagging all of you like that. I'm sorry," Natsume sighed. "And as a sign of apology," he put a huge paper bag on the table, "I would like to give this to you."

Curiosity took over Anna. She took the paper bag.

"Go on, open it."

Anna opened it to find a huge cupcake-shaped pillow inside. She blinked in disbelief. "Oh my sweet Lord baby Jesus."

"I heard you like cooking—clearly, because you have café and bakery—and you specifically fancy baking cupcakes. So I went and got this for you to show my deepest apology. I really hope you would take it."

Anna's face brightened up. The disgust in her eyes was nowhere to be seen. "I love this! Thank you so much. It's okay, I kind of understand your feeling. Of course you would want to know about Mikan so much." Her face dimmed as she stared right at Natsume. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you about Mikan. To be honest, I'm not sure either what Hotaru was talking about at that time. She just told us not to say anything _at all costs_."

"It's okay. I'll try to find out about it myself," Natsume smiled back charmingly. _By eavesdropping at your conversation this weekend_ , he added quietly.

At that moment, their orders arrived. Anna went back inside happily, and Natsume could see Ruka giving him a thumb-up.

"Infiltration succeeded."

"Sorry, Anna." Ruka cringed.

* * *

 **Sooo that's it! Thanks for reading! Reviews are always appreciated. I hope you can bear with my slow pace of updating :) And I hope after reading, you become more interested in Greek mythology or get more knowledge about it!**

 **~sassgoddess**


	4. Trojan War: Odysseus' Victory

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.**

 **I wrote this chapter a long time ago. Anyway, due to some problems I haven't been able to update. I'm soooo sorry :( well, I wouldn't write a very long introduction like I did on my other story. Here goes :)**

* * *

Ruka and Natsume sat on the couch in Natsume's living room, with a set of complicated machines that would transmit the conversation from the listening device. Ruka glanced at his watch. "It's almost 12, Hotaru should be going there soon. Just to make sure, I'll try to call her, okay?" Natsume nodded and Ruka walked to the balcony while calling Hotaru.

Hotaru picked up after a few moments. "What?" She asked. She hadn't been exactly a loving girlfriend after the incident with Natsume, primarily because Ruka had been siding with Natsume.

"Wondering if you would like to grab a lunch."

"Goddammit, Ruka, I told you I'm going out with the girls today." Ruka could almost hear her rolling her eyes. "See? Just go with Natsume, you listen to him more anyway."

"Are you… y'know, having the… bloody Niagara fall?" Hotaru had been very moody lately, and Ruka suspect it might be the hormones.

"My what?! Speak louder! I'm driving!" Car honks echoed with Hotaru's voice. "Fuck you, the light is green! Move faster!" Hotaru screamed.

"Your… uh, Satan's sacrificial waterfall."

"Oh. My period? Yeah! I'm having it! But that's not why I'm so fucking angry right now!"

"Absolutely not. Just asking, Hotaru." Ruka backed off quickly. Totally the period. He made a mental note to himself to buy her some crab snacks and chocolate to make her feel better. "You're driving to Anna's place?"

"Yes! How many times do I have to fucking repeat myself?!"

"Alright, alright, easy there." Ruka felt like he was taming a dragon. Except it's harder, he added glumly. At least a dragon doesn't have periods, right? "I'm sorry I forgot, okay? Are you coming back for dinner later?"

"I'm going with the girls." Ruka heard the sound of engine being turned off. "So you can go and fuck Hyuuga."

Hotaru really was beyond mad. "Hotaru, I think you're being too harsh on Natsume. You need to explain to him what he did wrong before he could fix his mistake, don't you think?" Ruka sighed.

It didn't even take Hotaru a second to answer. "I don't want him to fix his mistake," she bluntly said. "Hyuuga can go and rot in hell. Tell him—what's done is done. Let Mikan go." Hotaru seemed to slam the car door shut. "Okay, bye." Hotaru hung up.

"So?" Natsume asked as Ruka walked back in.

"She just arrived there, I guess. Not in a very good mood. She's having her periods." Ruka rolled his eyes. "She's angry all the time now."

"That's why, stop her from having period."

"How?" Ruka furrowed his eyebrows.

"Of course, make her pregnant."

"Fuck you, Natsume."

* * *

The first one hour, Natsume and Ruka caught nothing. But a few moments after that, they could hear faint noises. A door was being open, and the noises spilled in loudly.

"…your spaghetti was delicious as usual, Anna!" Nonoko's voice echoed through Natsume's spacious living room.

"Thanks!" Anna sounded delighted. "Alright girls, as usual—gossip time!"

Some noises. "Hotaru, jump on the bed too!" Anna shouted.

"No thanks, I'll behave like a normal human."

A few moments of silence.

"Can't Mikan Skype with us today?" Sumire asked.

"She said she's going to have a tour around the city today. Maybe looking at some cathedrals, or going to the Singer House. The view is picturesque after all," Hotaru said.

"Oh, true! I've heard a lot about Singer House. So her place's around there, is it?"

"Not exactly. She gave me some address, but that doesn't make sense to me. She said she'll join our gossip time tomorrow."

"Cool! Tomorrow at the bar?"

"Sure!"

Ruka and Natsume exchanged looks, smiling.

"What's Singer House?" Natsume asked.

"I also don't know. Go search about it in Wikipedia."

Natsume played with his phone for a while. "It's some historical landmark of Russia," he said. "Located at Saint Petersburg."

Ruka grinned. "So now, we got it narrowed down to a city."

"Which is, uh, 605.8 square kilometers in area. Or 233.9 square miles, whatever." Natsume stared at his screen. "Uh, actually, the area of the federal subject is 1,439 square kilometers, or 556 square miles. Still sounded pretty big to me."

"Hey, hey, but we got a clue now. Better than nothing, right?" Ruka embraced Natsume and smiled.

Natsume smiled back. "Yeah. Thanks, Ruka. Wouldn't have been able to do this without you."

"Anna, what's that? A new pillow?"

Hotaru's voice took the guys' attention back to the machine.

"Oh, yes. A few days ago, uh, Ruka and Hyuuga came to me, and Hyuuga gave me this as a sign of apology."

"Shit," Ruka murmured. "Hotaru's gonna find out."

In a few moments, the sounds turned into constant buzzing.

The guys glanced at each other.

"Hotaru knew these stuffs really well," Ruka said. At that moment, his phone rang. Hotaru. Hesitantly, he picked it up. "Uh, hi, Hotaru."

"It was you guys, right?" Her tone was icy.

Ruka fumbled to answer, so Natsume grabbed the phone from him. "That's right," he answered in triumph. "You were too late. I finally got a clue on where Mikan is, and I'm going to advance from there. You can't stop me."

Even from across the phone, Natsume could feel Hotaru's cold glare. "You might have won the Trojan War, Hyuuga—I'll give you that much—but the real challenge is still starting. The journey to get you back to Ithaca." Hotaru's mysterious voice sent Natsume chills.

"What the fuck are you talking about?! Tell me!" Natsume demanded. "Why did you call me Odysseus last time?! What's Ithaca?!"

"Read your Greek mythologies, Hyuuga. I thought Mikan gave you a clue?" Hotaru said mockingly before hanging up.

Natsume turned to Ruka. "Ruka, tell me about Odysseus."

* * *

By the way, those phrases "Satan's sacrificial waterfall" and "bloody Niagara fall" are the phrases I usually use with my close friends. Since they sound funny, I decided to put them up here.

 ** **So, yeah. I forgot totally what happened in this chapter, actually. I just know that Hotaru got super pissed at the guys. LOL.** She will continue to be pissed in the next chapter, so stay tuned for that! :D**

 **~sassgoddess**


End file.
